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Victorian Special Aviation Detachment
- |battles= *Operation: TRIUMPH *Battle of Agley |affiliation= *Victorian Independent State **Victorian Independent Air Force |branch= |type= |role= |size= *Two *Three (From ) *Six M-3s (From ) *Eleven pilots *Nine gunners and observers *Thirty ground crew |partof= |components= |hq= |nickname= |motto= |commanders= |era= }} The Victorian Special Aviation Detachment was a unit of the Victorian Independent Air Force. Formed in in conjunction with the Victorian Airborne Forces' formation three years earlier, the VSAD's purpose was to act as transport and close air support for the unit's operations on the frontier against pro-UNSC partisans. The unit was considered one of the most dangerous assignments within the VIS' military, owing to the fact that the Airborne Forces tended to operate in areas with a large pro-UNSC presence. While the unit's original purpose was transport for the Airborne Forces, as combat operations became increasingly thick on the frontiers, the unit's commanding officer, Andrey Edwards, obtained six armed general aviation aircraft and the pilots to fly them, foregoing the F/A-440, believing it to be too fast for the role. During Operation: TRIUMPH, the unit took heavy casualties from pro-UNSC forces' anti aircraft capabilities, losing all of its close air support aircraft, and a majority of its transport aircraft. However, during the Battle of Agley, with the Airborne Forces no longer a combat-effective force, the VSAD's transport aircraft were not moved from Agley Airfield, and as a result were destroyed on the ground, with the unit's pilots and crew formed into infantry for the rest of the battle. History Formation ( ) The Victorian Special Aviation Detachment had its roots in the creation of the Victorian Special Purpose Forces in . The unit, while it was effective in combating pro-UNSC forces in the forests of Victoria, was unable to make quick raids thanks to the unfriendly terrain that often bogged down the unit's and . These issues caught the attention of Victorian Independent Air Force Captain Andrey Edwards, who was in part of the VIAF's Transport Squadron, which was mainly focused on bringing supplies and occasionally troops to and from the frontier's many militia units, which composed the majority of the Victorian Independent State's personnel. In response to this lack of tactical usage of aerial transport, Edwards presented to the Independent State's command elements a plan to use the military's transports to quickly bring regular military strike forces to the frontier for raids on pro-UNSC outposts. Initially, the proposal was met with a great deal of resistance from the Independent State, due to several reasons. The first was that the majority of the Independent State's transport aircraft had been difficult to acquire, and it was believed not prudent to continuously place more than a few hard-to-acquire dropships in danger against UNSC partisans that could simply be contained by local militias. The second was that the general population was still very suspicious of the government, and any large-scale deployments of the military on the frontier was sure to make the general public further suspicious of the Independent State by bringing up memories of similar deployments by the UNSC during . In response to this resistance, Edwards scaled down his proposal for the unit to bring commandos into and out of raids. This proposal was accepted, and he was allocated two for the unit, dubbed the Victorian Special Aviation Detachment. With the new aerial transport capability provided by the VSAD, the Victorian Special Purpose Troops changed their name to the Victorian Airborne Forces. With regards to staffing the unit, personnel were assigned based on a perceived aptitude at flying in combat shown in training. This was due to the fact that the Independent State, while it had approved the creation of the unit, still believed it was taking a dangerous risk with it, and wanted pilots who had not yet become veterans, but who were also relatively skilled in flying, so that in the case the unit's aircraft were shot down, they would not lose veteran pilots with them. Combat Operations ( - ) The Detachment's first combat operation came on December 14th, , a mere two weeks after it had first been formed. In previous weeks, rumors of agents acting as advisers to the pro-UNSC forces had been spreading around the outlying frontier settlements to the northwest of the colonial capital of Agley. After a rash of deadly raids on rebel militia convoys in late November, the VIS' intelligence officers, acting off of what they had heard from local citizens and fighters, believed they had ascertained where the ONI personnel were operating out of. In the early hours of December 14th, several squads of the Victorian Airborne Forces loaded aboard the VSAD's two dropships, and were brought to the suspected area. As the commandos swept through the forest, the two dropships hovered above, waiting to provide fire support in the event the commandos came into contact with UNSC forces. Battle of Agley ( ) Category:Safe Havens